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Examining the Structure of Opportunity and Social Mobility in India: Who Becomes an Engineer?

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  • Anirudh Krishna

Abstract

type="main"> Rising inequality alongside rapid economic growth reinforces the need to examine patterns of social mobility in India. Are children from less well-off sections also able to rise to higher-paying positions, newly created by the growing economy, or are these positions mainly accessible to established elites? Powered in particular by the software industry, no sector has grown as fast as engineering in India. Examining the social origins of students at a range of engineering colleges, including higher- and lower-ranked ones, provides a useful lens for understanding how the new opportunities have availed different social segments. These results provide some grounds for optimism: women, scheduled castes, and sons and daughters of agriculturists have improved upon historical trends. However, the rural–urban divide remains deep: the more rural one is, the lower are one's chances of getting into any engineering college. Multiple simultaneous handicaps — being poor and rural or scheduled caste and rural — reduce these chances to virtually zero. Improving education quality together with better information provision and more accessible career advice are critical for making opportunity more equitable.

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  • Anirudh Krishna, 2014. "Examining the Structure of Opportunity and Social Mobility in India: Who Becomes an Engineer?," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(1), pages 1-28, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:45:y:2014:i:1:p:1-28
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    3. Anandi Mani & Emma Riley, 2019. "Social networks, role models, peer effects, and aspirations," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-120, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Mohanty, Smrutirekha, 2021. "A distributional analysis of the gender wage gap among technical degree and diploma holders in urban India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Patricia Funjika & Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2020. "Social mobility and inequality between groups," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-12, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Anustup Kundu & Kunal Sen, 2023. "Multigenerational Mobility Among Males in India," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(2), pages 395-418, June.
    7. Anustup Kundu & Kunal Sen, 2021. "Multigenerational mobility in India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-32, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Patricia Funjika & Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2020. "Social mobility and inequality between groups," WIDER Working Paper Series wp2020-12, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. begard Iversen & Anirudh Krishna & Kunal Sen, 2017. "Beyond poverty escapes – social mobility in the Global South: A survey article," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 172017, GDI, The University of Manchester.

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